Mosin ammo question

[Lucky Scott]

Okay, probably a "newbie" kinda question here. Stopped by Big 5 to look at the mosin's on sale and started talking with the guy working there. He is a Mosin fan as well and showed me some ammo. Its Holeshot brand 150 grain softpoint ammo. Never saw the soft point before. What is the purpose of this ammo? I bought it because its non-corrosive and a lighter grain so I wanted to try it out.
I have the green ammo can of ammo, which is surplus and I assume corrosive.
I have Wolf 148 grain, and I have SilverBear 174 grain.
They all kinda look the same except for the softpoint stuff.

What's the deal?

[Gigan]

Hey Scott, Glad to hear your thinking bout a Mosin. I could answer you but it would be a noobish answer Im new to shooting in general. So Ill leave the answer to an expert to make certain you get the full picture. Good luck with your purchase I love mine. If you get no answer Youll have to settle for mine a little later. PEACE,thru firepower!

[Gigan]

btw I got about 200 rounds of hotshot, Some Like it Some hate it, I have shot nothing else to compare it with.

[Cos]

I don't know about what's deal with Wolf and SilverBear except that USST surplus usually has pretty heavy load of powder (think 195'ish) and it corrosive. The latter isn't big deal - just make sure you're clean the rifle quickly after the shooting and use some ammonia solution (m.b. even Windex) to wash off the corrosive salts from the barrel.

I'd suggest you check this website http://7.62x54r.net/ - it's a best resource on Mosin rifles, I believe. Generally, Mosins are great, robust and quite inexpensive instruments - I'll love them.

BTW, what Big5 you've seen the Mosins? They are completely gone from Bay Area already :-(

Take care.

Okay, probably a "newbie" kinda question here. Stopped by Big 5 to look at the mosin's on sale and started talking with the guy working there. He is a Mosin fan as well and showed me some ammo. Its Holeshot brand 150 grain softpoint ammo. Never saw the soft point before. What is the purpose of this ammo? I bought it because its non-corrosive and a lighter grain so I wanted to try it out.
I have the green ammo can of ammo, which is surplus and I assume corrosive.
I have Wolf 148 grain, and I have SilverBear 174 grain.
They all kinda look the same except for the softpoint stuff.

What's the deal?

[Lucky Scott]

Yorba Linda in Orange county (so cal)
They only had one, but it was in good shape.
1944 year I think.

[Tho_Sun]

To my understanding, soft points expand better making it ideal for hunting. They're usually more expensive then your average ammo. Unless you hunt in a non lead free zone, it's not worth your money. Your better off buying some cheap Yugo ammo from ammoman and plink away! Hope that helps. Oh and when you shoot corrosive, don't forget to take off your bolt and give that a good spray down too. Some of the mist and or oils from your hand gives it a nice build up of rust if you don't clean it~

[glennsche]

i had bad experiences with the hotshot stuff. ejection issues. i got "sticky bolt" with it even after cleaning the chamber on range with the borebrush drill.

for me as a socal shooter, i have to shoot nonmagnetic stuff, so i shoot yugo surplus.

when i see mosin shooters on the range with hotshot boxes, i think "oh cool they just got their first mosin from big5!" (which was me in jan btw)

[Palimino Stripe]

Almost all "commercial" 7.62X54R is made on former (and in some cases active) military production lines. Once the cold war was over- the factories figured if it's good enough for the military, it's good enough for civilian use. Which is why they look exactly the same as surplus ammo. All surplus ammo should be treated as corrosive. All 'commerical' 7.62X54R is non-corrosive. BUT that means you still need to clean your rifle (which is simply a good habbit to get into).

-Palimino

[Scratch705]

just wish the three big socal outdoor ranges would allow steel core.... (angeles, burro, lytle)

so i'm stuck shooting yugo surplus or commercial... both are about double the price of the military surplus.

[cryoguy]

I agree, I was shooting surplus the other day and I got one stuck in the chamber. And It wasn't sticky bolt. I will have to find something that works for me I guess.

[mls343]

Some of the surplus stuff is copper cased. Once things start heating up, then they can get stuck on occasion. The Russian soldiers in WWII used to put a thin coat of oil on them to prevent sticking. Something to consider.

As for the soft points, there are used for (mostly) hunting as the lead core expands on impact. Probably cheaper to use surplus ammo, but most of it would be corossive - so make sure you clean your weapon after shooting - and there will be no problems.

Have fun and wear good hearing protection as Moisens are LOUD - especially the little carbines!

Cheers,

[glennsche]

just wish the three big socal outdoor ranges would allow steel core.... (angeles, burro, lytle)

so i'm stuck shooting yugo surplus or commercial... both are about double the price of the military surplus.

Burro did until very very recently.

[Scratch705]

Burro did until very very recently.

i thought they never really allow it, its just that RO's turn a blind eye to it when it is not fire season.